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The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Wiki:FAQ
Answers to common questions. Before you make a change to a page, please read this. It answers some common questions that keep coming up, requiring the changes to be removed. Why register? The wiki system is set up so that anyone can edit pages. You don't have to register to become a member in order to make edits. We do encourage people to register so that when they add to the wiki, they get proper credit under the name they choose, rather than just the IP address of the computer they are using. When you register, you can add ~~~~ at the end to have your name and the time automatically added to your edit. (This should be used on discussion pages, not episode or character articles.) For example: Michael.F 03:17, 18 February 2009 (UTC) Registering allows you to create a user page with info about you and your interests and to edit some pages that we've had to protect because people were making a nuisance of themselves by vandalising the pages or by changing information that we know not to be correct. Registration here also registers you for the other wikis that Wikia.com hosts. From Family Guy to Fallout 3, you may find other wikis that you're interested in. You can visit those wikis by clicking on the "wikia" link at the upper-left corner of each page. Why was the page I worked on changed? There are a variety of reasons why a page that's worked on has to be changed again. Sometimes it's to correct a common mistake that people make. Other times, the wording needs to be adjusted. Re-edits are also performed when people decide to be mischievious or vandalize pages. If you create a new page for a character or subject, it may get redirected to a different page if we already have one that covers what you wrote. Misspelled page names are a common reason for using a redirect. When a page is re-edited, the second person will usually put an edit summary as to why they changed it. You can see the reason(s) when you look at the page. The edit summary should be a polite explanation of why it had to be changed. See the "Editing pages" section below for other reasons why the page may have to be changed or deleted after you worked on it. Editing pages "Good Faith" and "Bad Faith" edits A good faith edit means that what you're adding here is done with good intentions so that other people will enjoy what you've contributed. A bad faith edit is a change that doesn't benefit the community. It can be something as simple as adding something known not to be true, to as severe as vandalism and obscenities. Bad faith edits are usually caught fairly quickly since the members see what's been changed on a regular basis. If it's an honest mistake, the person that made the mistake receives a gentle notice about the change having to be removed. One way to show that your edit is in good faith is to provide a reason for the edit. This should be placed in the Summary line, which is to the left of the Publish button you click to save what you worked on. See the "assume good faith" page for more information. Vandalism At the other end of the spectrum is vandalism. The most common types of vandalism are creating article titles with obscenities, replacing text with obscenities, erasing pages, or adding nonsense characters/gibberish. Another example of vandalism is taking pieces from other articles and adding them to fake episodes, trying to make a "real" episode. Full details about what constitutes vandalism is discussed in the The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Wiki:Vandalism page. Why adding fake episodes and speculation here is not a good idea We're trying to keep this Wiki about what we see in the episodes. If you add something, you have to be able to back it up. The episodes have to be your primary source of this proof. This is referred to as "being canon". We've already learned that what appears on other websites may not be true, even when it is a respectable website like the Internet Movie Database. If you are getting your information from another website like TV.com, you need to provide a link to the page so that other people can review the information. This is called a "community review" of your entry. Fake episodes A fake episode is one where we do not have confirmation that is real. Articles for things that are determined to be fake episodes will usually be deleted. Many of the fake episodes that are created are really fan fiction. Refer to the "Appropriate place for fan fiction" section below. Speculation Speculation is when you use your own personal opinion as the basis for what you are adding. Since it is a guess or your opinion and usually cannot be backed up by what is seen in the episodes, it will typically be removed. Speculation in Allusions is permitted, as long as when you add the allusion you state why you think it is valid. This allows for a community review of the allusion. See below for details about allusions. If it is decided that what you've added should be removed, a reason will usually be given in the edit summary. Users that continue to add fake episodes and/or speculation are abusing their privileges here. When it is bad enough, they will be blocked from access for a certain time period. Severe abuse of privileges can result in a user being labelled as a vandal and permanent blocking. See above for what is considered vandalism. Just play nice and we'll all get along fine. What's the big deal about adding speculation? In one respect, speculation is a form of fan fiction. It's one person's opinion of what they want it to be, rather than what can be proven by what we see in the episodes. We are also prohibiting fan fiction because this can lead to contradictions. To avoid contradictions, we rely on what is in the episodes and what is in published interviews for our information. Anything outside of that is not permitted. "What I want" instead of what it actually is When adding something to this Wiki, you need to ask yourself "am I doing this because it's what I want to happen, or did I see it in an episode?" If the answer isn't "I saw it in an episode", take another look at the reason why you're making the change. As mentioned above, things that are added to this Wiki have to be supported by what is seen in the episodes or learned through interviews and articles about the show's creators and cast. Without proof, these changes are "what I want", instead of what actually is, and this is a form of speculation. Likewise, any changes made because "that's the way it should be" are to be avoided. In these cases, you are saying that you know better than the people who make the show how things should be. Examples: * A character becoming attaining an occupation you hope they would have (say, a secret agent or spectral exterminator). * Deciding on middle names for characters, or giving names to characters, when that name has not been used in an episode. If you are really determined to make a "what I want" or "that's the way it should be" change, then you are venturing into fan fiction territory. Appropriate place for fan fiction If you are creating an article for a new episode that you made up, this wiki really isn't the right place for that. There are other websites specifically set up for user-made stories. They let people be creative with something they and enjoy, without stepping on the toes of the people here. What is "Continuity"? Continuity is a reference in one episode to another episode. This differs from foreshadowing because continuity is not a plot point that had to be resolved later. It is simply a reference or trivia about another episode. Example: :* In the Disney Channel series, Phineas and Ferb, the plans for the rollercoaster the Ferbot makes in the episode "I, Brobot" are the same as what Ferb made in the episode "Rollercoaster". What is an "Allusion"? An is a reference in the show to something outside of the show. One example is in "Dracula Must Die!" when Irwin's dad stated that Irwin's grandmama told him his father was a navigator on a spice freighter, an allusion to Star Wars character Owen Lars who told his nephew Luke the same thing about his father. Allusions are sometimes subjective about whether they really are referencing something outside of the show. In these situations, you should add words like "may be a reference to" in the allusion. This lets other members of the community double-check the allusion to see if it's valid or not. What is Background Information? Background information is trivia or information from outside of the show that relates to an event or plot point in the episode. Some background items qualify as continuity items and should be listed there. Foreshadowing, plot points and misdirection Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is when a writer drops a hint or include a plot point that they come back to in a future episode or book. The audience doesn't know at the time that it's foreshadowing, with a few exceptions like when the background music changes to indicate something significant is happening. Standard plot points A standard plot point is an event in the story that is dealt with by the time the story ends. Most of what we see in the episodes are standard plot points since events from one episode aren't left hanging, waiting to be resolved later. Misdirection Misdirection is a technique where the writer includes an event that the audience or reader will expect it to typically happen a certain way, but it goes different direction or has a different resolution. FAQ